“Hotel services in hospitals…the focus of sustainable development” was the theme title of a recent four-day forum held at the culture palace of Sohag, some 450km south of Cairo.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Local Development and the Ministry of Health and Population, the forum was organised by the administration of hotel services affiliated to the Ministry of Health jointly with the Arab Investors Union (AIU).
General Ra’fat Abdel-Abeth and other representatives of the Armed Forces attended the forum; as did Anba Youssef Abul-Kheir, Metropolitan of Sohag for Catholic Copts, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Local Development; the Council of Representatives of Sohag; Sohag and Fayoum Universities, and a number of businessmen and investors.
“This forum comes in line with President Sisi’s conviction that investing in human capital is an integral part of implementing the sustainable development agenda for 2030,” said Hoda Yassa, head of the AIU. The main goal of the forum, Dr Yassa explained, was to promoe hotel services and medical care, and upgrade the performance of hospitals in Upper Egypt. This, she said, would be spearheaded by Sohag.
Sohag, according to Dr Yassa, is well-positioned to offer and benefit from medical tourism, and is moreover home to religious and pharaonic sites and monuments of highest importance in Egyp’s history. She called for an initiative that would feature both health and tourism, yielding a complete ‘tourist health’ programme; “We—as Arab women investors—are the first to support such a programme,” she noted.
The forum discussed projects and studies for recycling solid and other waste produced by hospitals in Sohag; and establishing a specialised unit for food safety in the city to ensure providing food free of contaminants
The Dean of Sohag University”s Faculty of Medicine, Mustafa Abdel-Khaleq, called for signing a cooperation protocol between the University and AIU with the aim of offering locals training on hotel services.
“Sohag started is now poised to be the main axis of development in Upper Egypt; especially with regard to its being a distinct tourist destination.” said Gamal Haddad of the Ministry of Tourism. He said that hospitals could be five-star hotels that offer medical services. In full agreement, Fayoum University’s Dr Mahmoud Hweidy said that hotel services that represents 55 per cent of international exports.
In conclusion, the AIU honoured Minister of Health, Dr Hala Zayed. Sameh al-Ashmawy was handed the prize on her behalf.
For extensive coverage on Sohag:
Watani International
20 August 2018